A Hero or a Man?
by lostmidtranslation
Summary: How could he not have realised before? And why didn't Alice see this coming? He'll have to take care of her, one way or the other... JasperxOC
1. Prologue

_**Standard Disclaimer – It's not mine. Apart from the girl. Who you don't know yet. But you will. **_

_**Walkin' like a one man army, **_

_**Fightin' with the shadows in your head ~ Say (John Mayer)**_

-x-

_Prologue:_

Jasper took his jacket off and hung it up on the back of the chair, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. I'd watched him change like this every two weeks in the beginning of May.

It was as though he was shaken by something, something that broke him down. But I couldn't work out what. His brother, Edward, leaned in close to him and whispered something I couldn't hear, and his gaze flickered across the room to me. Edward smiled kindly, but I wouldn't reciprocate until I knew what he was thinking. I kept my head down all lesson, refusing to look at him as he pulled his work out and Miss Daniels made him do his presentation on whatever-it-was-we-were-studying, trying to focus on something that wasn't him.

I settled for staring at the posters strewn artfully across the walls. They were all bits and pieces about the American Civil War. I sighed. Damn history. I hated thinking about all the innocent people that died in war and had to fight for a cause there was no hope of saving.

"They weren't all innocent." His soft voice startled me and I almost fell out of my chair. Emily giggled and I stuck two fingers up at her as I regained my composure. I hated her. She was so focussed on making people look stupid… didn't she realise we could do it well enough ourselves?

"Who weren't?" I turned to look at the solid mass of gorgeous that now occupied the chair beside me. Jasper swept a hand through his hair and tilted his head to look at me squarer.

"Them." He waved his hand and my attention was caught by the one picture his gaze lingered on. It was a printout of a painting, beautifully drawn, with a group of young men in confederate uniforms, standing together. They looked as though they were trying to avoid the sunlight seeping through the trees above them, but that wasn't what bothered me.

It was the man standing in the back row, his wild blonde hair and strong, gorgeous features the most familiar thing of all. It bothered me because that man, the one wearing a Confederate uniform and a bright smile, with blood running down the side of his face, was currently sitting beside me.

It more than bothered me. I was scared.

-x-

_A/N: This is Short, this Is prologueish. _

_This is something i'd like to expand and have half a plot for, and would like to know what the hell everyone thinks of it. _

_I'd also like to let you know that this isn't a replacement for JCBR, which will be updated in a couple of days, and then regularly once a week. _

_And it's not a replacement for IFHOTF. Because I need to write the first chapter of "All Roads" first. They will be posted simultaneously. _

_I also need a better title for this _

_And I love you, please review. _

_xxx_


	2. Search Me

_**Standard Disclaimer – It's not mine. Apart from the girl. Who you don't know yet. But you will. **_

-x-

_It more than bothered me. I was scared. _

…_._

"What?" He looked at me, confused as I tensed up. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." I managed to squeak, then, he lifted his hand and let it slide over my shoulder. My stomach exploded with pain and desire. I forced myself out of my seat and looked at Miss Daniels. "Miss, can I use the bathroom - "

"Miss Hunt. Please sit down." She looked absolutely stunned that I'd got up from my seat, and frowned even further as I didn't move. "Please, Miss Hunt. Sit down."

Folding my arms, and pretending I was oblivious to the smirk on Jasper-fucking-Hale's face, I sat back in my seat, growled a little and turned away from him.

"Becca?" I turned to Angela, she was grinning at me with a knowing glint in her eyes, "You alright?" I shrugged, fury flushing through me. "Well, at least we're going to La Push tonight-"

"I'm not going." I said through my teeth. "My mum grounded me, remember?"

"Oh…" She blushed, "Yeah, right… Well… I'll give the cutest guys your number, okay?"

I bit my bottom lip and let out a laugh.

"Sure. Sure." I nodded for longer than I really needed to and ended up with a bright pink blush on my face, looking away from both of them and into the picture on the wall. When the lesson finished, I put my head down and gathered all of my stuff into my bag, looking into the fabric and ignoring everything around me. As I rose and pulled my bag onto my shoulders, I could have sworn I heard somebody cough and clear their throat, as though to get my attention. Though desperate to know who it was, I continued on my way to study hall, not even turning to see what Carrie wanted as she passed me in the corridor.

My mobile beeped, but I ignored that too, only able to focus on the images flashing before my eyes. I shut them and pressed my head into my hands. This happened a lot with me, recognising people, thinking they were somebody else, somebody they weren't. I needed to see that picture again, just to make sure I was wrong.

Warily, I lifted my head and looked over at the row of computers on the desks by the wall. Jasper was looking at one of them, scrolling up and down a page on Google absent-mindedly, looking at something - though I wasn't sure what, and Bella Swan was on the other one, typing furiously as she copied up a handwritten essay. I sighed. The only free computer was the one between them.

_Screw it. _My curiosity was getting the better of me and frustrating me at the same time. I picked my bags up and sat down in the seat. Neither of them looked up as I logged on, but as I opened the search page and sighed, Bella looked up at me.

"Alright, Becca?" I nodded and turned the screen so she couldn't read it. Jasper took that time to look up and glance at the typed words.

"You won't find the picture searching that." He amended it quickly and hit enter, I looked over at the images section and found a high resolution version of it, groaning as I zoomed in on it.

There was only one difference I could see between the vision beside me and the image of the young man on the screen - the painting had blue eyes. I looked over at Jasper out of the corner of my eyes and caught a glimpse of the bright amber in his eyes. He glanced back at me and I blushed out of habit.

"What do you want, Jasper?" I looked at him as he kept his eyes on me for longer than usual, "I'm busy-"

"You know," He leaned closer to me and smiled as he got too close for comfort. I leaned back further and hit my head on the back of the chair. Involuntarily, I whimpered, and he laughed lightly.

"Go away, Jasper." I hissed, closing the window and logging off without another word. I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the classroom, determined to ignore his existence as best as I could. As the library doors shut behind me and I found my way to somewhere comfortable, somewhere to hide in the stacks, and closed my eyes, "Just leave me alone."

-x-

_**A/N: This is short, once again, because I believe in short and sunny bursts. (hah!) **_

_**I also need a better title for this – I like "A Soldier or a Vampire," but i'm not surreeee.... **_

_**And I love you, please review. **_

_**xxx**_


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